Good afternoon everyone.

Happy Lunar New Year! 新年快乐,身体健康！

Thank you for joining me today at the N.E.mation! 2021 awards ceremony. This season's N.E.mation! went online for the very first time. From the story creation workshops on Zoom in July last year, to the online pitching and mentoring sessions in September and the year-end school holidays, you have brought your ideas to life. A storyboard competition was also introduced to encourage our students to think of storyboards about Total Defence in action for a stronger Singapore. We are heartened to see an increase in the overall participation as many students shared their stories creatively on Total Defence.

I am happy to announce that the storyboard competition will be here to stay for the Student Category as we move forward into N.E.mation! 2022. N.E.mation! is much more than just a digital animation competition. Through participation in N.E.mation!, our students and youths play their part for Singapore as their productions inspire fellow Singaporeans to work together and keep our country strong.

To all the participants here today as well as those tuning in from home, you have done well. Keep up the good work!

COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges for Singapore and Singaporeans, but I am heartened by the many N.E.mation! clips highlighting the silver lining amidst this pandemic. Bukit Panjang Government High School's Team Nemo's clip depicts Total Defence through one of our local delights, Rojak, and it shows how everyone has a part to play. Team Dragon Fruit from Nanyang Polytechnic's clip tackles fake news, reminding us how it can cause panic and hoarding in the community, and the importance of fact checking.

Watching these clips reminds us that our peace and security should not be taken for granted. We must continually do our part in building our military, civil, economic, social, digital and psychological defence. And always to stay vigilant, be socially responsible, care for each other, and most of all, look out for one another in times of need.

I would like to thank the teachers, schools, families and friends who supported our participants in this year's competition, as well as your mentors from the industry such as Industrial Light and Magic, Vividthree Productions and Singapore Press Holdings.

Once again, I would like to congratulate every one of you. And I hope you have enjoyed your N.E.mation! journey this year, and will continue to put Total Defence into action in your everyday lives.

Thank you.